This invention relates to seals for sealing gaps between two or more components disposed adjacent to one another. In particular this invention relates to seals that have certain characteristics in common. The seals that this invention relates to are constructed primarily of a soft, flexible, durable material. Examples of such a soft flexible durable material include many elastomers and plastics as well as any other materials that have mechanical properties similar to elastomers. The seals that this invention relates to have elongated bodies the length of which is many times greater than a largest sectional width of the elongated body. For purposes of this disclosure a. sectional width of the elongated body is a width of the elongated body in any direction perpendicular to a central axis of the elongated body and at any point along the central axis of the elongated body. The seals that this invention relates to can be substantially elastically bent along at least some portion of their central axis. The seals that this invention relates to include mounting features which facilitates the mounting of the seals to other components and sealing features which fill the gaps between two or more adjacent components when those adjacent components and the seals are properly position relative to one another. In the interest of simplicity, seals that are constructed according to all of the aforementioned guidelines will herein after be referred to as flexible elongated seals. Flexible elongated seals as defined above are particularly well suited for use in certain applications where it is desirable to seal a relatively long, narrow gap that curves and bends in different directions. Flexible elongated seals are, for example, commonly used to seal a gap between a door and a door frame or a gap between a window and a window frame. The flexible elongated seal is attached with the aid of its mounting features to one of the components in such a position that its sealing features will be within and will seal a gap between the two or more components that the seal is intended to seal to one another.
As was mentioned above there are many different designs of flexible elongated seals. Differences between different designs of flexible elongated seals include differences in shape and size of the cross-section of the elongated body of the flexible elongated seal and differences in materials that the elongated body is constructed of. Another difference between different designs of flexible elongated seals is that some include reinforcements embedded in their elongated bodies and others do not. Additionally there are different types of reinforcements that are embedded in the elongated bodies of flexible elongated seals. Each different type of reinforcement that can be utilized in a flexible elongated seal provides a different amount of stiffening against certain types of deformation that a flexible elongated seal can be subjected to. Reinforcements of flexible elongated seals are generally constructed primarily to stiffen the flexible elongated seal against one or both of two important types of deformation that the flexible elongated seal can be subjected to. A first of these two types of deformation that can occur to the flexible elongated seal is axial bending. For the purposes of this disclosure axial bending of the flexible elongated seal is defined to be bending of the elongated body of the flexible elongated seal along its central axis. Axial bending of some parts of the flexible elongated seal is desirable to allow the flexible elongated seal to be mounted to a component with one or more bends in its elongated flexible body. Flexible elongated seals are mounted in such an elastically deformed manner in order to conform to the complex shapes of the components that they are mounted to. For instance, flexible elongated seals are often mounted to window and door frames with bends in the flexible elongated seal at the comers of the window or door frame. The second of the two important types of deformation that the flexible elongated seal can be subjected to is sectional deformation. For the purposes of this disclosure sectional deformation of the flexible elongated seal is defined to be deformation of its elongated body that causes one or more cross-sections of the elongated body perpendicular to its central axis to change in shape or size. Examples of sectional deformation of the flexible elongated seal would include crushing of its elongated body in directions perpendicular to its central axis and pushing or pulling of portions of its elongated body toward or away from one another. Different types of reinforcements for flexible elongated seals provide different degrees of stiffening against axial bending and sectional deformation. Reinforcements for flexible elongated seals have substantially the same mechanical properties along their entire central axis which extends in the same direction as the central axis of the elongated body of the flexible elongated seal that they reinforce. Some flexible elongated sealing components have multiple reinforcements embedded within their elongated bodies at different positions along their central axis. Each of the reinforcements of such flexible elongated seals that comprise multiple reinforcements have the same mechanical properties as the others. Thus for a given flexible elongated seal that comprises one or more reinforcements, those portions of its elongated body that are reinforced all have substantially the same stiffness properties. Flexible elongated sealing components are constructed with such uniform reinforcement in spite of the fact that different portions of a flexible elongated seal are often subjected to substantially different operating conditions and requirements. Therefore, many reusable formable elongated sealing components that have reinforcements are constructed in a manner such that the stiffness properties of some portions are compromised to accommodate the requirements of other sections of the flexible elongated seal.
It is thus,xe2x80x94an object of the present invention to provide a flexible elongated seal that has different stiffness properties at different portions of the flexible elongated seal along its central axis. Such a flexible elongated seal may, thus, have the stiffness of different portions of its elongated body more appropriately tailored to the operating conditions that those different portions of the elongated body will be subjected to.
The flexible elongated seal of the present invention comprises an elongated body which, in turn, defines mounting features for mounting the flexible elongated seal to a component of an assembly. The elongated body of the flexible elongated seal is constructed primarily of a soft, flexible, durable material such as an elastomer. The flexible elongated seal of the present invention includes sealing features for sealing a gap between two or more adjacent components of the assembly to which the flexible elongated seal is mounted. The flexible elongated seal of the present invention has at least two reinforcements embedded in the soft, flexible, durable material of its elongated body. Each of the reinforcements of the flexible elongated seal of the reinforcements is oriented in the elongated body of the flexible elongated seal with a longitudinal axis of the reinforcement disposed substantially parallel to a central axis of the flexible elongated seal. Each of the reinforcements of the flexible elongated seal is also disposed at a different position along the central axis of the flexible elongated seal. At least one of the reinforcements of the flexible elongated seal of the present invention is of a different construction than the other reinforcement(s). The flexible elongated seal of the present invention has at least one wire mesh reinforcement and at least one rigid reinforcement. The wire mesh reinforcement of the flexible elongated seal is constructed of a wire like body that forms a number of coils each of which is disposed within a cross-section of the flexible elongated seal that is disposed substantially perpendicular to the central axis of the flexible elongated seal and also substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the wire mesh reinforcement. Each coil of the wire mesh reinforcement is connected to each adjacent coil by a section of the wire like body that extends in generally the same direction as the central axis of the flexible elongated seal and the longitudinal axis of the wire mesh reinforcement. The wire like body of the wire mesh reinforcement is constructed of a material that is relatively stiff in comparison to the soft, flexible, durable material that it is embedded in. Such a wire mesh reinforcement provides for the section of the flexible elongated seal within which it is embedded a considerable amount of stiffening against sectional deformation but a very limited amount of stiffening against axial bending. The wire mesh reinforcement provides substantial reinforcement against sectional deformation because adjacent coils of the wire mesh reinforcement act as springs in parallel when resisting sectional deformation. The wire mesh reinforcement provides relatively little stiffening against axial bending because adjacent coils of the wire mesh reinforcement and the sections of wire like body that connect adjacent coils act as springs in parallel when resisting axial bending. Use of such a wire mesh reinforcement is appropriate for portions of the flexible elongated seal that need reinforcement against sectional deformation but also need to be somewhat flexible in axial bending to allow the flexible elongated seal to be mounted to a component with bends or curves in that respective portion. The flexible elongated seal of the present invention also includes a rigid reinforcement. The rigid reinforcement of the flexible elongated seal is a member that extends in a continuous manner along its straight longitudinal axis. The rigid reinforcement is constructed of a material that is relatively stiff in comparison to the soft, flexible, durable material of the elongated body within which the rigid reinforcement is embedded. The rigid reinforcement is embedded in the elongated body of the flexible elongated seal in such an orientation that the longitudinal axis of the rigid reinforcement is oriented substantially parallel to the central axis of the flexible elongated seal. The construction of the rigid reinforcement is such that substantially all of its cross-sections perpendicular to its longitudinal axis have a relatively substantial moment of inertia about all axes perpendicular to its longitudinal axis. Thus, the rigid reinforcement, and the portion of the flexible elongated seal within which the rigid reinforcement is embedded, are substantially stiffer against axial bending than are the wire mesh reinforcement and the portion of the flexible elongated seal within which the wire mesh reinforcement is embedded. Because the rigid reinforcement is constructed of a material that is relatively stiff as compared to the soft, flexible, durable material of the elongate member of the window glass seal, the rigid reinforcement also provides substantial stiffening against sectional deformation of the portion of the flexible elongated seal within which the rigid reinforcement is embedded. A flexible elongated seal that has a portion of its elongated body reinforced by such a rigid reinforcement is well suited for applications in which it is important that a portion of the flexible elongated seal maintain a straight shape.
Thus, it can be seen that the above-mentioned object of the invention as well as others not mentioned have been met.